Weight Loss -----> From people who know please?

daz51

Hey guys,

I have been cycling for 7 months nearly and in the last two months i have ben doin about 80 --> 120 mile a week.

now when i started i was told my weight would not go down as cycling turns your fat into muscle and muscle is heavier than fat.

now in that time i have got from 11st 5 down to 9st 5 ish, so a 2 stone weight loss.

all of a sudden though the weight loss as stopped ????? any idea why? have i reached my optimum weight for my height (5ft 5.5) ???????

squired

A someone who is 5' 6", with relatively small build I would say your weight is unlikely to drop much more. At the moment I am around 10st 0. The lightest I've been during my adult life was 8st 10, but most of the time I hover between 9st 7 and 10st. At the time I was 8st 10 I was doing a huge amound of cycling, but I also had a 26 inch waist and a terribly thin face (according to other people). I think you should be pretty content with being the weight you are now.

pllb

Agree with Squired. I went fairly rapidly from 15st 12lbs down to 12st 7lbs and have remained there for around 2.5 years now - happy with that and wouldn't want to lose much more. Could also be that now I am used to cycling more I know that I won't put on weight so easily and consequently don't watch what I eat as much as when I was losing weight.

Garry H

daz51 wrote:

Hey guys,

I have been cycling for 7 months nearly and in the last two months i have ben doin about 80 --> 120 mile a week.

now when i started i was told my weight would not go down as cycling turns your fat into muscle and muscle is heavier than fat.

now in that time i have got from 11st 5 down to 9st 5 ish, so a 2 stone weight loss.

all of a sudden though the weight loss as stopped ????? any idea why? have i reached my optimum weight for my height (5ft 5.5) ???????

Hi Daz

Just to corect the often misunderstood fact; fat does not turn into muscle, or vice-versa. What's happening is that you are reducing your fat reserves, AND building up muscle mass at the same time. You could probably lose more by increasing your mileage and/or reducing calorie intake, but It's a law of diminishing returns. Do you actually want to lose more weight, or is this just a rhetorical question?

Like the other two posters said, you've probably reached an "ideal" weight for you, and will find it difficult to lose much more, staying within the realms of sensibility. I'm 5'7" and weigh about10'3". You seem to be at a pretty healthy weight to me.

richa

Your BMI is low at 21.3. What is your body fat%?

kenbaxter

And don;t try to overdo your weight loss. Lost heaps of weight in my rock climbing days. For a while i climbed like a lizard (well kind of) but then (a) completely ran out of energy and (b) put it all back on in no time at all! If your down in the 9st bracket be happy with it and gloat at us 85 kg giants!

Spinnerman

I am also 5' 5.5" tall and currently fluctuate between 129 lbs and 132 lbs (that would translate to 9 st 3 lbs and 9 st 6 lbs. I have been down to 9 st before one year when I was doing three very demanding cylcosportives within a span of about 6 weeks. That is the lowest I have been since my college years when I was 121 to 123 lbs, and I didn't have a desk job and family commitments. I find that if I am able to make 3 or more weeks of consecutive racing and have been eating lean, healthy foods, I can drop closer to the 9 st mark. Racing and interval training will do the most , I think, to help loose weight. But, the real issue is to eat and hydrate properly, get proper rest and do the right kind of ridding/trainig for whatever your cycling goals are. As others have said, the weight will take care of itself and I wouldn't worry about it.

Garry H

kenbaxter wrote:

And don;t try to overdo your weight loss. Lost heaps of weight in my rock climbing days. For a while i climbed like a lizard (well kind of) but then (a) completely ran out of energy and (b) put it all back on in no time at all! If your down in the 9st bracket be happy with it and gloat at us 85 kg giants!

Did exactly the same thing, with the same result, ie totally knackered and didn't have the energy to actually climb. Gave up on it in the end, and just concentrated on climbing more.

dombo6

You sound like you've reached your limit. I lost about 8-9 lbs over the last year with cycling. I'm 5'8" and weigh 10 stone (140lbs, 64 kgs) now. I eat loads and my weight only fluctuates a pound or two now.
Helps with riding up hills!